Daniel Murphy was viewed by many as a liability before the season started. Now, he’s the Mets’ cleanup batter.

Murphy was in the prestigious No. 4 spot for the second straight game last night versus the Braves, and he delivered. The 26-year-old second baseman turned first baseman was 2-for-3 in the Mets’ 6-4 victory over the Braves last night at Citi Field. Since May 20, he has a scorching .466 (27-for-58) batting average, and he’s only getting hotter. He also has an eight-game hitting streak during which he has batted .567.

“I’m not changing what I’m trying to do,” Murphy said. “If somebody’s on, I’m trying to drive the ball. If nobody’s on, I try to get on base.”

Murphy, not a traditional cleanup batter, has one home run and seven RBIs since May 20. The RBI total will rise quickly if he keeps racking up multi-hit games. He has seven of those during his current hitting streak.

“It’s nice being in the middle of the order,” Murphy said. “Especially with the way Josie [Reyes], Justin [Turner] and Carlos [Beltran] are swinging the bat in front of me, and you got Angel [Pagan] swinging the bat really well behind me, so it’s probably the best spot to be in in the lineup right now.”

Tell that to Jason Bay, who was the previous cleanup batter until he was dropped in the order Saturday due to his awful slump that has seen his average drop from bad (.238) to atrocious (.216). During the same time, Murphy has raised his average to .309.

Perhaps Bay, who is 9-for-50 (.180) since May 20, can turn to Murphy for advice on how to turn it around.

“I’m just trying to show up every day and repeat my swing,” Murphy said. “It’s more of a feeling right now than it is anything mechanical. So I just try to come in here, find a good spot, trust it and take it into the game.”

It’s all about confidence at the plate.

“I feel good right now,” Murphy said. “As good as I’ve felt at the plate probably since I got called up. I want to keep it going.”